Burning List

In today’s tight economy, who doesn’t want to free up some cash? Trim the fat but not the fun from your budget – here’s how.
1. Slash Your Grocery Bill
Monthly savings up to: $183*Shop once a week. The more trips you make to the store, the likelier you are to buy on impulse because you see more tempting items. About two-thirds of purchases are unplanned; cut that in half to save $143 a month (if you spend $100 a week on groceries).Give up the bottle. Stop drinking bottled water and instead buy a filter for your faucet (about $34, plus $25 for replacements). If your family consumes 12 gallons a month, you’ll save about $15.

Eat what’s ripe. Out-of-season produce costs 20% to 50% more than it does when it’s in season. For a list of what’s in season when, go to fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. Estimated savings: $7 a month.Differentiate between clean and dirty. Organic produce costs $1 to $2 more than the conventional kind. Cut your pesticide intake by going organic on the dirtiest produce (apples, lettuce) and conventional on the cleanest (kiwi, tomatoes). For a list of clean and dirty fruits and veggies, go to foodnews.org. Savings: $18 a month.

2. Ditch Your Second (or Third) Car
Monthly savings up to: $662*Sure, she turns heads, but that 2007 Audi A6 Quattro is an expensive mistress. Can’t do without two cars? Trade it in for a new Camry and save $221 a month.
Note: Savings for annual operating costs only: insurance ($4,992); gas ($2,218); maintenance ($734); assumes 5,000 extra miles on remaining car (2008 Acura TL), plus four weekly bus passes. Trade-in is even exchange for a 2010 Camry XLE.
3. Get to Work Cheaper
Monthly savings up to: $320*A suburban driver commuting to the city might shell out $575 a month for gas, parking, and car upkeep, assuming a 30-mile roundtrip. These downshifts can help:Grab a tax break. Sign up for your company’s transportation reimbursement account, which lets you pay up to $230 in monthly parking fees with pretax dollars. (You can set aside the same amount for mass-transit costs.) Savings: about $80 a month.

Drive with a buddy. Carpool to work with a colleague. No one suitable you know nearby? Get matched up at carpoolworld.com or erideshare.com.Go from four wheels to two. Buy a good commuter bike ($500) and cycle to work as the weather permits. Do that six months a year and you’ll save $250 a month.
Note: Assumes 28% tax bracket; carpooling 10 months a year; cycling costs include bike, helmet, air pump, $25-a-month maintenance.
4. Step Off the Gas
Monthly savings up to: $25* You don’t have to buy a Prius, trade in your clunker or ride the bus to cut down on the money you spend for gas each month. Just make a few adjustments to your driving habits: Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving on the highway — speeding, rapid acceleration and braking — can lower your mileage by 33%. Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly above 60 miles per hour. Reining in your speed will save you up to 23%.Keep tires inflated properly. Check your owner’s manual to list your vehicle’s proper tire pressure, buy a good dial-type pressure gauge ($8), and check your tires once a week. Keeping them properly inflated can improve your mileage by about 3%. Empty the trunk. Don’t carry around unnecessary items, especially in small cars. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your miles-per-gallon by up to 2%.
Note: Fuel savings estimates from fueleconomy.org. Assumes 12,000 miles driven per year (8,000 on highway), gas priced at $2.64 per gallon and car averaging 25 mpg.

5. Buy This, Not That
You can buy a men’s designer suit, like a Hickey Freeman, in stores for $1,200.Or buy the same suit for $380 at gilt.com. Want to impress at a job interview? You could buy this Tory Burch Studded Leather Tote for $495. Or Rent it from avelle.com for $26 a week for members.
6. Share the Care
Monthly savings up to: $140* Organize a babysitting co-op with neighborhood parents and take turns watching the kids for free. Your kids will be happier with their friends — more fun for them and fewer games of Chutes and Ladders for you (whew!). Or go in on a sitter with another family, paying, say, $10 an hour apiece instead of the usual $14 (more kids means a higher total rate for the sitter).
Note: Assumes five hours of babysitting twice a month.
7. Pamper Your Pet for Less
Monthly savings up to: $74*Try these techniques: Say bye to boarding. Going away? Nix the pet motel; instead trade sitting duties with other pet-owner pals. Go to school. Get Spike looking spiffy at a grooming school. Price: 40% to 50% less than a regular groomer. Drop the pet insurance. You’ll probably pay way more in premiums than you stand to save on vet bills.
Note: Annual costs: boarding, $265; grooming seven times: pro ($55) vs. school ($30); pet policy, $447 save.
8. Hang Up on High Phone Bills
Monthly savings up to: $145*Eight out of 10 U.S. families pay too much for phone service, reports billshrink.com. Use one or more of these strategies to ensure yours isn’t among them. Take a message. Teens who live at home average 1,742 texts a month. Switch to a family cell plan with unlimited texting. Get smart. College students text less than high school kids. Spring for a smartphone (like an iPhone) with unlimited data if your child agrees to a limited text and calling plan. Drop the landline. Some 20% of homes have only cellphones. Maybe yours should be one. Add Mom and Dad. Are your parents spending $30 a month for an emergency cell that just gathers dust? Instead, put them on your family plan, which will cost only about $10 a month.
Note: Based on AT&T plans, saving $22/mo. on texts, $55/mo. with smartphone; landline price of $48.
9. Don’t Be a Snob
Coupons can yield big savings on purchases for your family – if you’re not too proud to use them.
Groceries: CouponMom.comOnline shopping: CouponCabin.com Free shipping: FreeShipping.orgCash back: Extrabux.com
10. Make your Children Less Taxing
Almost 20% of people who are eligible for higher-education tax relief don’t claim it. Make use of these breaks for kids of all ages.
11. Shop Happy
Don’t go to the mall when you’re in a lousy mood. A study by Harvard management professor Jennifer Lerner has found that people who were feeling depressed when they shopped were willing to spend 30% more than consumers who were in a better frame of mind.
12. Drive Down Premiums
Monthly savings: $50*High auto policy prices will hit the road if you use a combination of these cost-cutting strategies. Raise your deductible. Going from $250 to $500 could save 7%. Jump to $1,000, and you’ll save 14%. Just say no to collision. Got an older car? If it’s worth less than 10 times what you’d pay in a year for collision (check at kbb.com), drop the coverage. Dig for discounts. Save up to 15% with breaks for safe driving records and good grades for teens. Shop around. Compare prices at insweb.com. You may get coverage at up to $300 less than you pay now. Pay as you drive. In 15 states, Progressive allows drivers to plug a device into their cars that monitors driving habits and miles. Possible savings: up to 30%.
Note: Estimated savings for a married couple with two cars in Edmonds, Wash., who raise the deductible from $250 to $1,000 and drop collision on one car.

13. Scour Home-Goods Sales
The sample-sale concept is expanding to high-end home decor, such as pottery from interior designer Jonathan Adler, Odegard rugs, and glassware from Italian maker Luigi Bormioli. Some of the fashion sites, like HauteLook and Gilt, now sell home goods. But you will find more variety at sites such as OneKingsLane.com, which deal exclusively in home design. There, a Staub cast-iron pan recently sold for $99 vs. $200 in stores.
14. Refinance
Monthly savings: $250*The silver lining of the gloomy housing market: Mortgage rates are low, hovering at 5.35%. If the rate on your current loan is 6.35% or higher and you plan to stay in your home for at least three years, look into refinancing. On a $300,000 mortgage, closing costs will run you about $6,000, but you could cut your monthly payment by more than $250.
Note: Assumes a $300,000 30-year mortgage taken out three years ago at 6.35%; remaining balance refinanced at 5.35%.
15. Take a Home-Swap Vacation
Monthly savings: $517*Find someone who lives where you want to visit, and trade places for a week. Find interested traders at homeexchange.com or 1sthomeexchange.com.
Note: Assumes family of four taking two trips a year spends $325 a night on lodging, $175 a day on food; home swap is free, $400 a week on food.
View the full slide show on CNNMoney.com.